GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Led by 19 kills from junior Kasie Gilfert, the Colorado Mesa University volleyball team claimed a fourth straight home win in four sets over the visiting South Dakota Mines  School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers on Saturday afternoon here in Brownson Arena.
 
The Mavericks hit. 306 as a team in the 25-18, 25-18, 22-25, 25-16 victory and improved to 12-7 overall and to 8-3 in the RMAC while maintaining a spotless 2019 home record.  South Dakota Mines dropped to 9-11 overall and to 5-6 in the loop despite a solid 21-kills, 6-block effort from Fruita native Dana Thomson, who made her return to the Grand Valley.
 
However, Gilfert's supporting cast was deeper and better than Thomson's on the day as the Mavericks closed out the match after a third set wobble, thanks in part to a pair of 7-0 fourth-set runs.
 
Throughout the match, Camille Smith added 13 kills and three blocks while hitting .400, just shy of Gilfert's .412 clip.
 
Seniors Katie Scherr and Samantha Ritter also recorded double-doubles.  Scherr, playing in her 100^th career match, finished with 10 kills and 11 digs on the outside while Ritter had 23 assists and 10 digs.  Ara Norwood also added 27 assists and eight digs while freshman right side Maranda Theleus had nine kills, including six in the first set alone.
 
The Mavericks had 63 kills as a team on the day, 15 more than the Hardrockers.  CMU also had a 61-49 advantage in digs as four different Mavericks were in double-figures, led by Kerstin Layman's 14.  Holly Schmidt also had 10 and chipped in seven kills offensively.
 
CMU also recorded seven aces and seven blocks while committing just four service errors.
 
The Mavericks hit an impressive .394 in the first set, building as large as a 9-point lead while finishing off the set on a Theleus kill.
 
The second set ended up with the same 25-18 score line as the Mavericks used a 14-4 spurt in the middle stages of the frame to build another 9-point (19-10) cushion, which proved to be more than enough.
 
However, the Hardrockers came back in the third hitting at a sizzling .395 pace.  They visitors took a 19-17 lead on kills from Victoria Zagorski and Chelsea Brewster before Gilfert and Thomson traded blows.
 
After that exchange, the Hardrockers had their lead diminished to just one (22-21) but called timeout to successfully regroup as Thomson and Jacey Koethe kills helped them close out the set.
 
The visitors' momentum appeared to be going strong as the Hardrockers jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the fourth set.  However, Smith sparked a 7-0 run with a kill and added an ace behind the line during the stretch as the Mavericks came roaring back.
 
After one kill from Thomson, the Mavericks went on another 7-0 spurt with Norwood serving and were suddenly up 16-8 while cruising to the victory.
 
After the 2-0 home weekend, which included a come-from-behind 5-set win over Black Hills State on Friday, the Mavericks will head back on the road next weekend.  They will play in Utah on back-to-back evenings facing Westminster on Friday in Salt Lake City before venturing to St. George for an encounter with Dixie State on Saturday.